Disclaimer: I do not own anything, it all belongs to other people, but I can still dream, can I?

A 36th story in my Halloween short story series. Different answers to the challenge: 'what if Xander dressed as something different for Halloween'.

Authors Note: I'm working at my writing again, but after so long a time, it's rather hard to remember what I had planned to do with certain story-lines. So it might take a while, but I'm trying.

Minutes to Midnight

Simone of the Zordiak

Everything started with a broken watch. Larry had banged his arm against the corner of the vending machine and the glass of his watch broke. Then Snyder, the Tyrant of Sunnydale High, had ordered him to do the Brat-Patrol duty and when he had checked the army fatigues he'd thought to wear as a costume, he had been dismayed to learn that his mother had spilled her cheap alcohol on them, making them reek of that stuff and him unable to wear them. Xander thought that there had to be some sort of bad luck deity somewhere, laughing hysterically at him.

So here he was, in this new costume store Willow and Buffy had dragged him to, trying to find a new and relative cheap costume for the night. He was almost ready to give up, when he saw the coat hanging on the bargain rack. It was a short black coat, splattered with fake blood and it looked like it would fit him. When he asked the store-manager about the coat, the man, who introduced himself as Ethan, explained that there was meant to be a sword-handle sticking out of the chest and the rest of the blade coming out of the back of the coat, but the blade had been broken into pieces during the shipping, making this costume incomplete. He'd already written a damage-report for insurance and was just looking to get rid of the coat cheaply, otherwise he would simply throw it out into the trash.

Xander deemed that his series of bad luck was over, bought the coat and went home to get dressed.

-o-o-o-

Joyce blinked as she opened the door. Xander looked... different, there was no other way to say it. He wore black, shoes, pants and coat, everything was black. He was smiling at her and it looked a bit disturbing with all the blood splattered on his coat. When she asked him about his costume, he just smirked and told her to guess.

-o-o-o-

Ethan Rayne had no idea what he was unleashing. To be fair, neither did Xander. He had not dressed up with a certain person in mind, just something kind of dark and Anti-Xander.

If Ethan had still been able to speak, he would have readily agreed that this person in Xanders body was as Anti-Xander as possible. Unfortunately Ethan was quite unable to speak because of the serious telekinetic chokehold he was in. Cold, dark eyes were focussed on him, making him feel like he was being dissected. His worst fears were becoming reality when he heard the cold, cold voice of the man before him. "You are the one responsible for this 'magic', aren't you? I want to know how it works."

And he raised his hand, pointing at him and pain was the last thing Ethan knew before everything vanished in the blackness of death.

-o-o-o-

When Giles stormed into the costume shop, ready to have a violent conversation with his old partner in crime, he more or less stumbled over Ethan's dead body, the head neatly sliced open and the brain gone. He nearly vomited all over the corpse.

-o-o-o-

Having the memories of a brain-stealing serial killer shoved into your head was not something Xander enjoyed to experience. But gaining the powers of said serial killer was a good thing. He had worked out the limitations of the spell and was quite sure that his powers, based on genetic changes in his DNA, were here to stay, simply because they were genetic. Magic and science didn't mix well, that he had learned rather quickly. He was a bit disappointed that he hadn't gained anything from the spellcasters brain, but there were new and interesting avenues of research to follow. Xander smirked as he thought about all the possibilities, closed his eyes and listened to the calming ticking of his newly repaired watch.

End